Chris Ashton double seals England win, but Martin Johnson wants more

Martin Johnson declared himself pleased with England’s 26-19 victory over Wales in the Six Nations opener, but was not happy with his side’s performance.

Chris Ashton scored a brace of tries as England silenced the Cardiff crowd, but they endured a nervous final quarter after Morgan Stoddart crossed to keep Wales in the game.

Chris Ashton scored twice for England (PA)

England manager Johnson said the result was good, but hinted that some of his players were in for a tough few days ahead of next weekend’s clash with Italy.

‘The first thing is to win, which we did. It was a classic Test match of its kind. There was an ebb and flow to it,’ he said.

However, the World Cup winner was disappointed England had not won more easily.

‘Little mistakes, of our own making, gave them chances,’ said Johnson.

‘They (Wales) will say they had chances to win and they did, but it’s about finishing it off and we did that. I’ll hand out the rollockings on Monday.’

Wales enjoyed a spell of early pressure, but failed to make it count as both James Hook and Stephen Jones missed penalties.

The hosts paid a heavy price for their profligacy with the boot in the 14th minute, when the outstanding Toby Flood broke and fed Ashton for his first try, which the Northampton winger finished with a spectacular dive.

Flood and Jones traded two penalties apiece to make the half-time score 13-6, with Wales unable to take advantage of England being reduced to ten men when Louis Deacon was sin-binned.

England extended their lead early in the second half when Flood landed a penalty after Craig Mitchell was harshly yellow carded.

A well-worked try for Ashton, with Ben Youngs, Shontayne Hape and Mark Cueto creating a simple chance for him, seemed to have sealed victory in the 56th minute.

However, Wales hit back almost immediately, with an arcing break from Jonathan Davies presenting Stoddart with a run in.

The hosts battled hard to pull level and reduced the deficit to 23-19 with a Hook penalty, but England replacement Jonny Wilkinson replied with a kick of his own and strong tackling from the visitors ensured they held on.